anniversary
by Winter Thunder
Summary: The bumbling, yet undeniably sweet efforts that Fairy Tail mages go through in order to make their anniversaries special-or to just remember them. One: In which Levy forgets their anniversary, Gazille sulks, and his manly pride is wounded.


**Summary:** The clumsy, bumbling, yet undeniably sweet and loving efforts that Fairy Tail mages go through to make their anniversaries with their significant others special-or to just remember them. _One: In which Levy forgets their anniversary, Gazille sulks, and his manly pride is wounded._

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><p><strong>anniversary<strong>

ensemble

one: levy x gazille

_in which levy forgets their anniversary_

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><p>Gazille was not well known for his patience. He was well known for being a bit of a violent lout, impatient, and lacking in a sense of humor. And he wasn't exactly the most tactful, thoughtful, kind, or even helpful…or at least, he went out of his way to make it seem that way. As someone once said, a fake reputation is all a man has.<p>

Granted, he _was_ a bit violent, he was definitely impatient, and he really didn't like getting teased. He found tact to be a useless thing, and was a bit too selfish and self-centered to be thoughtful, kind, or helpful to anyone he didn't particularly care about. It wasn't completely because he was selfish—he felt that people ought to take care of themselves, or they'd be worse for it. He was actually wiser and a better person than he, or anyone else gave him credit for.

Except for two people—Levy and Pantherlily.

And Gazille liked to think that he knew them pretty well. Well, definitely Lily better than Levy—she'd probably always be eighty percent mystery to him, being a woman and all.

Which brought him to his current…predicament.

Although he was not, by any means, going soft, or a sap, Gazille always remembered his and Levy's anniversary. Not because Lucy, who had truly warmed up to him shortly after he and Levy had begun to see each other, had very firmly and loudly lectured him on the expectations set upon him because he now carried the mantle "boyfriend" and very specifically pointed out the importance of anniversaries. No, it was really because it had been a special day for them, and well, up until that point, there hadn't been that many days in his past worth remembering. Of course he hadn't realized it was something that couples were expected to celebrate, so he was grudgingly grateful to the bunny lady's annoying lecture. Not that he'd ever admit it.

And, well, today was that day. Their first anniversary.

Gazille hadn't planned anything spectacular or ridiculously romantic because, dammit, he was a man, and didn't Levy have him wrapped around her pinky finger tightly enough already? They weren't particularly loud or ostentatious people by nature, so he'd given it a bit of thought, and decided that just spending the day together would be good enough. They never really got to spend a whole day together, just by themselves, doing things they both liked and whatnot. Usually, they were on jobs, or getting interrupted by their ridiculously rambunctious guild.

The problem right now, though, wasn't the guild. It was Levy.

Gazille glanced sideways at his girlfriend, who was eating her lunch and chatting animatedly with Lily. He'd made a point to stay by her side since the morning, but she hadn't given a single indication that she knew that today was supposed to be a special day for them.

_The cosplay maniac made it pretty clear that it's the kind of things that girls fuss over_, he thought, frowning. He looked at the Solid Script mage again. _Don't tell me she actually forgot?_

He groaned inwardly. She probably did. It wasn't like Levy was one of those girls he'd see on the streets who fawned over superbly romantic things. He knew that being spontaneously nice (or sweet and romantic as she would say) and buying her a book she'd been looking for while he was on a job, or leaving a bunch of flowers in a vase on her desk, was something she loved, so she didn't mind romance. But Gazille knew that Levy knew that he wasn't the kind of man to serenade her or take her on elaborate dates, and she didn't mind. She was a skilled mage of Fairy Tail, not a wilting damsel in distress, and knowing her, she'd probably be offended if he treated her like a delicate flower. Not that he even had it in him to do so.

But still. She appreciated romance, so she must fuss over anniversaries! _He_ hadn't said anything all day, and neither had she, so she must have forgotten.

It kind of irritated him. He still definitely wasn't a sap, but it would have been nice if his own girlfriend remembered the day he'd finally screwed up the courage to ask her out.

Never mind that he'd only done that because Pantherlily had told him very dryly that if he didn't do it, she'd beat him to it, and wouldn't he have fun living it down for the rest of their relationship?

Gazille sighed. He cared about Levy more than he liked to admit, and he knew he'd do anything for her. So if she forgot about their anniversary, then he wasn't going to raise a fuss.

He would just sulk to himself.

Or maybe, he could just wait a little more and see if she remembered. Levy brought out extraordinary reserves of patience in him.

The Iron Dragon Slayer smiled in spite of himself. She was really something.

He returned his attention to Levy and Lily's conversation, and immediately rolled his eyes. They talked about such strange things.

And really, was she going to ignore him forever? He could live with it if she forgot their anniversary, but she could at least talk to him. Gazille huffed inwardly.

What a great anniversary this was turning out to be.

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><p>"Gazille?" Levy asked as they walked along the riverfront. "You've been quiet all day, even for you. Is everything okay?" she asked worriedly.<p>

Gazille nodded wordlessly.

"Come on," she cajoled, tucking herself under his arm and looking up at him with a smile, "you can tell me, you know that."

He looked down at her. "'m fine," he grunted. He was definitely annoyed and sulking. The sun had set a few hours ago, and not once, all day, did Levy mention the 'a' word. It wounded his manly pride. (And if he was honest with himself, his feelings. But because he was manly, it only hurt his pride. Of course. It was just an anniversary, what did he care?)

Gazille sighed inwardly.

Fine. It definitely hurt his…feelings. He shuddered. Feelings was such a…wimpy word. But it was Levy, and he definitely had feelings when Levy was involved.

"Gazille, I know you don't talk about your feelings, but it's me. Remember, you're supposed to talk to me about these things?"

Great, now she looked worried.

"…'s nothin'."

"Doesn't sound like nothing." Levy frowned at him. "Come on, tell me."

"Levy…"

"You do remember what happened the last time you refused to talk to me, right?" she demanded, stopping short. Jeez, and people thought _he_ was the impatient one. Levy could be a right spitfire sometimes.

"Okay, okay." Gazille stopped walking, too, and turned to face her. He rubbed the back of his head. "Look, it's not a big deal."

"Oh, don't feed me that rubbish, it obviously is, or you wouldn't have been in such a fit all day," she said crossly.

"I was not in a fit!" he said, outraged.

"Yes, you were!" Levy cried. "You barely talked to me all day!"

"Me! You were the one yammerin' on with everyone _except_ me!"

_Like at lunch_, he thought sullenly.

Oh, great, now he was jealous of his own damn cat.

"What are you _talking_ about—just—" she let out a frustrated noise. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Look, I don't want to fight you. Will you please just tell me what's bothering you?"

Embarrassment welled up in him and Gazille stuffed his hands in his pockets and glared at something far behind her. "It's…it's…well, don't you care that today is our anniversary?" he demanded, turning red.

Levy stared at him, her mouth in a tiny 'o.'

"Look, forget I said anythin'," he muttered, jamming his hands further into his pockets and dropping his stare to the ground. "'s not important."

To his dismay and shock, Levy began giggling uncontrollably. Normally, he loved listening to her laugh, but right now, it did nothing to salve his wounded pride, or help the red in his cheeks recede.

"Oi! Don't laugh at me!" he said grumpily, more embarrassed than ever.

"Oh, Gazille," Levy said between giggles. She moved so she was directly in front of him and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his mouth, looping her arms around his neck. "You," kiss, "are," kiss, "so," kiss, "silly." That was definitely her tongue right there.

Still, Levy's fantastic kissing skills weren't enough to sway him from his desire to crawl into a hole and die from embarrassment.

"Am not," he grumbled, settling his hands on the small of her back. "What's so damn funny, anyways?" Levy smiled and kissed him again.

"Gazille, our anniversary is tomorrow."

What?

Gazille stared at her. Levy laughed.

"The eleventh of May? It's tomorrow."

No way.

Disbelief was obviously written all over his face, because Levy was taking out her calendar, the one he always teased her for carrying around, and proving it to him.

"…oh."

Well.

_God, I'm so fucking stupid_. Gazille groaned to himself.

Levy smiled. "You're not stupid." Seriously, it was like she could read his mind sometimes. "It's really quite sweet of you, actually."

That snapped him out of his stupor. "Oi, woman, I am not 'sweet.'"

"Oh, I think you are." Levy kissed him again. "It's okay, I won't tell anyone that you are."

"Good," he grumbled, smoothing her hair away from her face and kissing her deeply. He felt a lot better now that he knew she hadn't forgotten. Levy sighed happily when they finally broke apart.

"I could never get tired of that," she said, looking slightly dazed.

"Of what?" he asked, confused.

"You. Kissing me like that." Gazille grinned, his manly ego inflating.

"And this is comin' from the girl who turned tomato red and couldn't talk to me for days after I kissed her for the first time," he teased. Levy blushed.

"It was my first kiss! It was a big deal! I really liked you, you know!" she protested hotly.

"'_Liked_?'" he asked, frowning. For some reason, Levy's blush deepened.

"Oh, well…I…" she floundered for words. "I mean…well…I…isn't it obvious?" she asked desperately.

At the blank look on his face, Levy grasped his shirtfront tightly and tugged him down to meet his lips with hers. And just like every time they kissed, it felt like the first time—from the way she melted into him, and how he was suddenly all too aware of every place their bodies met, to the fire racing through his veins. How he couldn't hold her close enough, and the way his mind would short circuit and he couldn't think of anything but Levy, the feel of her soft lips, and how utterly _right_ it felt to be kissing her.

Levy pulled away, breathing heavily and leaving him breathless. "I love you," she whispered, her breath hot on his lips.

Stunned crimson eyes stared into dazed, scared, yet sincere cinnamon brown ones. Then, to Levy's delight, an enormous grin broke out across his face and he laughed. It was the biggest smile she had ever seen on him, and she couldn't help but laugh too, only to have her laughter turn into a yelp as Gazille swept her up by her waist and spun her around in the air.

"Gazille!" she shrieked, still laughing. "Put me down!" Gazille looked up at her, and she could see something incredibly warm and soft and _happy_ in his eyes.

Gazille had felt a wave of warmth crash over him when she had whispered those words, a warmth that had nothing to do with their proximity, and it seemed to warm him to the core. He had never felt happier in his entire life. He set Levy down and kissed her warmly, his arms tightening around her waist as he tried to hold her even closer. He pulled away and tried to tell her-tell her...he looked down into those warm, cinnamon eyes, eyes he could never get tired of looking into.

Words failed him.

All he could do was pull her back into him and try to tell her everything he couldn't say in words in his kiss. Fire lanced through his veins once more and just before his mind short-circuited, Gazille thought to himself that this was the best anniversary ever.

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><p><strong>disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Fairy Tail or anything related to it; I do, however, own this story idea/plotline/etc.

**written:** 27 August 2011- 29 August 2011

**published:** 29 August 2011

**word count:** 2,064

**note(s):**

-Yeah. It's fluffy. I know. My original ending was worse than this, though. Anyways...I meant for all my clichés to go into _the words_, but I think I might have another cliché and fluffy outlet in this set of stories.

-I was trying to make the point that Gazille will always be different around Levy and always make more of an effort for her, because well, awkward and unromantic as he is, he's so obviously in love with her (in this story) that he doesn't mind looking a bit foolish because that way she'll know that he cares, even if he does a bit of bumbling. But of course, Levy wouldn't have him any other way. So that's my excuse for this cornucopia of fluff.

-I know, this is the third one where Levy says "I love you" first, but my defense is that they're all under different circumstances, and in this one, it's not like Gazille has realized the extent of his feelings (he's not exactly one to sit around and think about it). Also, I'm planning for something a little different in my other upcoming stories. Winkwink. (Although, to be completely honest, to me it just makes sense that Levy would be the one to say it first.)

-WHO GOT THE TANGLED REFERENCE? (Forgot to mention that earlier.)

**_UP NEXT:_**

-LUCY AND NATSU!

**request(s):**

-If you caught any mistakes (of any kind), please let me know!

-Tell me how it turned out and _review_, yeah?

-Come back for the next storydrabblething if you liked it?

-If you like, check out _of steps, twists, and turns_, my Levy/Gazille story, _the words_, another ensemble piece that starts out with Levy and Gazille, and _in which there is matchmaking,_ my AU ensemble story and that should be up soon!


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